and a better one substituted.
Gradually the five tribes--Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and
Seminole--were shorn of their governmental powers. Lands were allotted
in severalty, certain coal, oil, and asphalt lands being reserved. A
public school system was established and maintained by general taxation.
In his message to Congress, 1905, President Roosevelt recommended the
immediate admission of Oklahoma and Indian Territory as one State and
Arizona and New Mexico as another. A statehood bill embodying this
recommendation was passed by the House, but was amended in the Senate so
as to strike out the provision relative to the admission of New Mexico